Tuesday, January 17, 2017

ConFusion Schedule

My one convention of the year so far (and likely my only con this year) is coming up this weekend. I'm heading out to Detroit, Michigan for ConFusion. This will be my first time attending, so I'm excited to see what it's like. I chose to give ConFusion a try because a lot of my author-friends have gushed over how much fun they've had in past years, so fingers crossed I'll have an equally wonderful time! I'm on the following panels:

Self-Publishing for Fun & Profit (Friday Jan 20th at 7pm), with Michael Underwood, Elise Kova, and Dira Lewis. We'll be looking at the current state of self-pub in all its myriad forms, and pondering where it might go in the next 10 years. I'll be happy to share some of the lessons learned from my Kickstarter experience.

Pimp Your Mars Rover (Saturday Jan 21st at 5pm), with Karen Burnham, Martin L. Shoemaker, and Bill Higgins. "What would a vehicle need to traverse the unforgiving surface of Mars? A perfect panel for those interested in engineering the next buggy." I may be a signal and image processing engineer rather than a mechanical engineer, but back when I was working at JPL in my undergrad days, I did design some hardware for a Mars lander (which sadly never made it to planetfall, as the rocket failed on launch). In any case, it's always fun to geek out about engineering and science, so I look forward to this one.

Pantsers Rule! Or So They Tell Me (Sunday Jan 22nd at 10am), with Diana Rowland, Michael Ceislak, Andrea Phillips, John Klima. In which we will discuss the joys and horrors of writing by the seat of your pants, and other alternatives to outlining. (I'm actually somewhere in the middle between a pantser and an outliner.)

Aside from the panels, I'll be hanging out at the bar. I don't actually drink, as I hate the taste of alcohol--although my God, on Friday I will likely be wishing that wasn't so. But my favorite part of a con is always the bar conversations. Well, and I also plan to spend a nice solid chunk of time each morning holed up in my room taking advantage of blissful solitude to make progress on those infamous Shattered Sigil short stories. In any case, if you'll be at the con, I'll see you there!